Stephanie Jean Slater

Impact of Backwards Faded Scaffolding in an Astronomy Course for Pre-service Elementary Teachers based on Inquiry

In response to national reform movements calling for future teachers to be prepared to design and deliver science instruction using the principles of inquiry, we created and evaluated a specially designed course for pre-service elementary education undergraduates based upon an inquiry-oriented teaching approach framed by the notions of backwards faded-scaffolding as an overarching theme for instruction. Students completed both structured- and open-inquiry projects and presented the results of their investigations several times throughout the semester. Using a single-group, multiple-measures, quasi-experimental design, students demonstrated enhanced content knowledge of astronomy and inquiry as well as attitudes and self-efficacy toward teaching.

Teaching Scientific Inquiry with Galaxy Zoo.

The universe of topics to choose from when teaching an astronomy course is astronomically immense. This wide array of opportunity presents some inherently difficult choices for teachers at all levels on how to limit the scope of the course to make the syllabus manageable. As but one example, consider that even the most experienced astronomy teacher must choose between focusing on the astrophysics of stellar processes or on the nomenclature for stars and constellations because there is rarely time to give both justice. One might go as far as saying that planning an astronomy course is similar to the perspective offered by Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivores Dilemma, which can be paraphrased as, “When entering a modern grocery store in the U.S. with unlimited choices, what is it that one chooses to eat and why?” Indeed, teaching about the entire universe in a single astronomy course involves some serious choices, as one can most certainly not teach everything.